Ora
Ora (pronounced OH-raw) was one of the first deities, present even before life had come to Golarion and the Reach. In the infancy of the world, he existed as a means of balancing the scales. When conflict arose between gods, it was Ora they turned to for assistance in settling the scores. Upon his death, his loss was felt by all divines and left a power vacuum in its wake that even today has yet to stabilize. History Early History Ora is an ancient god of law and community, and is credited with bringing order to the planes. In the time before time, he acted as a check to the capricious and vengeful deities, earning him a great deal of respect for his actions. The only god that held any amount of animosity for the Sword of Order was a fledgling dark god, though not even the legends are clear as to the cause of this hatred. Even with such obvious resentment, Ora never considered the dark god more than a mild nuisance. As the heavens and the earth took shape under the careful attention of the other deities, Ora was content to sit back in his demesne and observe. When mortals arose upon the innumerable planets of the Mortal Plane and began banding together to stave off the threats of the wilderness, he ended his centuries-long vigil. In those who looked after their fellow man, created or upheld laws, and bettered their community, he gifted a small portion of his power. With his attention upon them, villages turned to towns, to cities, and eventually to kingdoms. It did not take long for priests of Ora to evangelize the blessings of their savior, gathering vast flocks to the cause. From these flocks, the most pious of his servants who truly lived his tenets were offered a shard of divinity. They took it, becoming mythic heroes that eventually ascended to proper godhood under their patron deity, intended to serve eternally as his servants. Sadly, fate had other plans. Betrayal With Ora's attention focused upon mortal affairs and empowering his champions, his ancient enemy set about craft grand plans. The Scarecrow, covetous of the Sword of Order's immense power, had long been able to do little more than hide and flee from his wrath. However, in the mortals gifted with divinity, the dark god saw a wealth of opportunity. Softly at first but gradually gaining volume with time, the Scarecrow whispered to the once-mortal champions. Promises of wealth, respect, adoration, and power beyond their wildest dreams slithered silkily into the ears of Ora's most trusted servants. One by one, they fell to the temptation as the lust for more overwhelmed their mortal minds. Once the Scarecrow had latched onto their desires and they could no longer refuse, it made its demands. Slay the source of their divine power to claim it for themselves. So deep seated was the greed in their hearts that even such an abhorrent act was not anathema to them. Together, they fell upon Ora like a pack of wolves. The deity had no chance to fight back, caught by such surprise that his closest allies would turn on him so. It was Eurix that struck the killing blow, driving his blessed blade straight through the helm of his lord. When the deed was done, the enormity of their transgression finally dawned on the heralds. In their fear at the repercussions should any of the other deities find out, they took the body and cast it into a budding world devoid of sentient life. Their deed done, they returned to the Scarecrow to reap their reward. Instead, they reaped only what they had sown. The dark god consumed all four of them, taking their power for its own before they could so much as cry out in alarm. With its greatest enemy slain and power overwhelming at its fingertips, off the Scarecrow went to find something new to corrupt. The Mountains of Regret Where Ora's lifeless corpse was discarded, a mountain gradually grew up around him as the ambient divine power that still shrouded his form kept it from being desecrated. Even in death, the mountain surged with divinity and thwarted all attempts to ascend the slopes. From a distance, the mountain appeared flawlessly maintained with orderly paths leading up to the summit. However, as the elves of Caeth Shaeras quickly found out when their civilization eventually rose to prominence, not even their most powerful mages could penetrate its defenses. Teleportation simply failed in its presence and those that attempted to ascend physically were buffeted back by winds strong enough to keep even the most powerful warriors out. In their inability to discover its secrets, they dubbed the peaks the Mountains of Regret. As time passed, even the corpse of a deity began to succumb to entropy. Decay spread through its body until it finally reached the heart, releasing a necrotic mist that drifted innocuously down the mountain. Where the mist came into contact with a mortal, the mortal perished immediately and permanently such that not even resurrection magic could revive them. When Caeth Shaeras became aware of the spread of this mist, an alarm was raised. An alarm ignored by far too many thanks to the budding civil war within their borders. Repentance Alerted by the draconic pseudo-deity Aiolyssee, mortal heroes bearing mythical power took up the task of beating back the source of this mist. With her assistance, the heroes were able to brave the mists and discover a mage and a cleric bearing the heraldry of Ora. The pair wept openly, but were unable to articulate their grief or their purpose due to divine intervention. Only one of the heroes was able to comprehend their meaning, which cost him his life as the knowledge was too great for his mortal mind to comprehend. Thanks to his own shred of divinity, his death was brief and the heroes slogged on through the legions that the pair of heralds had summoned. In time, they dispatched the spectral warriors only to find the heralds gone. And so they continued up the mountain's slopes to their next challenge. After a brief pause to solve a puzzle-lock, they descended into the mountain itself to find a champion and an echo of Ora himself. At the pair's back stood an immense portal that the heroes discovered led to the true Mountains of Regret. It was from the echo that they were able to finally attain understanding of who this god was and what had happened. The mist consumed life in an effort to revive the fallen god, an effort that neither the god nor his servants could bear to witness. Despite their grief, they could do nothing to stop it. Striking a deal with the echo, the heroes pledged to redirect the mist if Ora himself would aid their fight against the Scarecrow. In wholehearted agreement, the echo and champion regretfully informed the heroes that they were honorbound to defend the portal. After a lengthy, arduous battle, the heroes triumphed and entered the portal. There, they saw the truth of the mountain. With wit and guile, the heroes used powerful magitech engines to pump the necrotic mists into the lands of the demon king, claiming his servants to fuel the return of Ora. Their plan was successful; with the demon king's forces decimated, Ora was returned to life and took up his glaive once more. Now, he awaits the day he can finally exact his retribution upon the Scarecrow. Appearance Ora is a primordial god often seen as an hulking suit of angelic armor, with piercing eyes peering out of the helmet's eye slits. A gleaming golden halo floats above his head, from the inner ring of which spills radiant light. Similar luminescence erupts from the metal spines stretching from each shoulderblade, coalescing into blinding wings. An eternally sharp glaive is clasped tightly in one hand, its blade split down the middle with a teardrop hole in the center and spikes arrayed about the crossguard. Relationships Almost universally respected by deities of every pantheon for his fair and just decrees, only the Scarecrow takes issue with him. After his death at the Scarecrow's hands and subsequent murders of his servants, they have become nothing short of nemeses to one another. Undead have a particular hatred for Ora and go out of their way to attack his followers. Providence The Sword of Order does not typically deal directly with mortals, except with high ranking of his most faithful. Those who do manage to garner his attention receive staunch support, so long as their actions remain honorable and just. He communicates primarily via coins that fall upon their edges rather than either face, spilled drink that narrowly misses paper and journals, and swarms of ants that march in a spiked-halo shape. When displeased, he causes guards to turn away at the least opportune moment, locks to "accidentally" be left open, and tree roots to snag travelers' feet. Servants Ora and his faithful hold creatures that act upon order and rigid structure as holy. Ants are a particular favorite, and the appearance of swarms of them is often seen as a sign of the god's favor. Other favored creatures include azers, formians, and axiomites. Enana Ever focused upon looking after her companions and her home, Enana's portfolio included the Law and Community Domains. The last to fall to the temptation of the Scarecrow, she was very nearly able to shake off the dark god's will. It took particular delight in wearing down her resistance until her resolve broke under the weight of her yearning for something greater. Even in her greed, she assured herself that the power they could claim from Ora would enable her companions to look after her people in ways the Sword of Order never could. Aelaerix Patron saint of city guards and military bodies everywhere, Aelaerix's portfolio included the Law and Protection domains. The first that the Scarecrow attempted to bend to his will, Aelaerix was almost spared the indignity of corruption. It was not until Jaesao came to her to confess the wicked thoughts that had taken root in her mind that the dark god saw his opening. Unfortunately for all four of the companions, she harbored a deep unrequited love for Jaesao. A love that was twisted just as easily as the desires of her allies. Sadly, Aelaerix was perhaps the only one that could have brought the rest of her fellows back from the brink of depravity. In her desperate yearning for such affections to be returned however, her better judgment was clouded enough for the black schemes of their greatest enemy to come to fruition. Eurix An aegis of protection for travelers and caravans, Eurix's portfolio included the Travel and Protection domains. The Swordbreaker, Eurix was the one who dealt the deathstroke to Ora in their cowardly attack, driving his blessed blade through the back of the deity's skull. There the blade remained, stuck fast despite all efforts to pry it free, until the Sword of Order was resurrected. Where the sword has disappeared to since is a mystery that likely only Ora himself knows the answer to. Jaesao A gentle, capricious soul, Jaesao's portfolio included the Travel and Community domains. The first to fall to the Scarecrow's schemes, she played a large part in convincing the others to give in to their desires. As a servant of Ora, she often felt shackled by duty and unable to travel the planes as she so coveted. With a portion of his immense power, she reasoned, she could be free to roam. It was believed that Jaesao and Eurix were romantically involved by their worshippers, but these rumors were never confirmed regardless of how insistently Eurix's priests claimed such things. Clerics of Jaesao, on the other hand, have never made such claims and continue to keep silent on the truth of the matter. Ora's Champion The last surviving divine servant of Ora, the Champion fought beside his echo against the mythic heroes that came to stop the necrotic mists spilling from his heart. She stands even still by his side, glad that prior to her defeat she did not claim any further mortal life. Once, she was to be the next of the god's servants to ascend to godhood alongside the Sword of Order. Her ascension was rather abruptly halted upon the death of her deity and nearly all her god-given powers were ripped from her. As one of his last remaining loyal servants that once bore a shred of his power, the echo of Ora wrenched her from her home plane to join him. In the thousands of years by his side, she has gleaned such knowledge beyond the ken of mere mortals that she has regained a touch of her divinity in her own right. Church of Ora With his death so early on in the history of the Mortal Plane, all traces of worship of Ora has been wiped away by the passage of time. The only surviving worshippers of the Sword of Order were brought to the Mountains of Regret by his echo. Perhaps in time with his recent resurrection, there will be a resurgence of worship for the once-dead god. Category:Deity Category:Scarecrow